Refractive index anisotropic

Infrared ellipsometry is typically performed in the mid-infrared range of 400 to 5000 cm , but also in the near- and far-infrared. The resonances of molecular vibrations or phonons in the solid state generate typical features in the tanT and A spectra in the form of relative minima or maxima and dispersion-like structures. For the isotropic bulk calculation of optical constants - refractive index n and extinction coefficient k - is straightforward. For all other applications (thin films and anisotropic materials) iteration procedures are used. In ellipsometry only angles are measured. The results are also absolute values, obtained without the use of a standard. 

Aa is the absorbance in the tilted geometry, Az the absorbance measured in normal incidence geometry with light polarized along the Z-axis, and n the refractive index of the sample. The isotropic refractive index in the visible range is often used as a first approximation, but quantitative measurements require knowledge of the anisotropic refractive indices at the wavelength of interest [29]. 

Dependence of certain physical properties, like the electric permittivity, refractive index and magnetic susceptibility on direction. It is created by long-range orientational order in a mesophase, provided the corresponding molecular property is anisotropic. 

Liquid crystal polymers (LCP) are polymers that exhibit liquid crystal characteristics either in solution (lyotropic liquid crystal) or in the melt (thermotropic liquid crystal) [Ballauf, 1989 Finkelmann, 1987 Morgan et al., 1987]. We need to define the liquid crystal state before proceeding. Crystalline solids have three-dimensional, long-range ordering of molecules. The molecules are said to be ordered or oriented with respect to their centers of mass and their molecular axes. The physical properties (e.g., refractive index, electrical conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion) of a wide variety of crystalline substances vary in different directions. Such substances are referred to as anisotropic substances. Substances that have the same properties in all directions are referred to as isotropic substances. For example, liquids that possess no long-range molecular order in any dimension are described as isotropic. 

An applied electric field can also change a material s linear susceptibility, and thus its refractive index. This effect is known as the linear electro-optic (LEO) or Pocket s effect, and it can be used to modulate light by changing the voltage applied to a second-order NLO material. The applied voltage anisotropically distorts the electron... 

The refractive index is the most important optical property and its effect in determining the appearance of the polymer composite has already been referred to above. Amorphous fillers such as glass fibres and beads have only one refractive index, but most mineral fillers are crystalline and have anisotropic crystal structures resulting in a number of different indices, and this can cause complex and undesirable interference effects [27]. 

Physical properties of liquid crystals are generally anisotropic (see, for example, du Jeu, 1980). The anisotropic physical properties that are relevant to display devices are refractive index, dielectric permittivity and orientational elasticity (Raynes, 1983). A nematic LC has two principal refractive indices, Un and measured parallel and perpendicular to the nematic director respectively. The birefringence An = ny — rij is positive, typically around 0.25. The anisotropy in the dielectric permittivity which is given by As = II — Sj is the driving force for most electrooptic effects in LCs. The electric contribution to the free energy contains a term that depends on the angle between the director n and the electric field E and is given by... 

As its name suggests, a liquid crystal is a fluid (liquid) with some long-range order (crystal) and therefore has properties of both states mobility as a liquid, self-assembly, anisotropism (refractive index, electric permittivity, magnetic susceptibility, mechanical properties, depend on the direction in which they are measured) as a solid crystal. Therefore, the liquid crystalline phase is an intermediate phase between solid and liquid. In other words, macroscopically the liquid crystalline phase behaves as a liquid, but, microscopically, it resembles the solid phase. Sometimes it may be helpful to see it as an ordered liquid or a disordered solid. The liquid crystal behavior depends on the intermolecular forces, that is, if the latter are too strong or too weak the mesophase is lost. Driving forces for the formation of a mesophase are dipole-dipole, van der Waals interactions, 71—71 stacking and so on. 

Other difficulties are owing to the influence of the solvent. With stiff and bulky chains the so-called micro-form-effect becomes of importance, when the refractive index increment differs considerably from zero (7). In this case the random link approximately acts like a cylinder of length A and with a refractive index different from that of the solvent. Another effect occurs in good solvents which consist of anisotropic molecules. These molecules become oriented along the polymer chain, considerably contributing to its anisotropy [Frisman, Dadivanyan and Dyuzhev (752)]. In this way, the determination of the eigen anisotropy of weekly anisotropic polymer chains becomes rather doubtful. 

Randomly distributed dipolar molecules form an isotropic medium characterized by a single refractive index n. When these molecules are more or less aligned in an electric field the medium becomes anisotropic and its optical properties must be described by two refractive indices. The Kerr cell consists of a glass vessel fitted with two parallel optical windows and two metal electrodes (Figure 2.11). The cell contains a liquid or a gas (solids can also be used) when an electric field exists between the electrodes the phase difference between the electric vectors is proportional to the square of the field and to the value of the electrical Kerr constant of the dielectric... 

The applied voltage in effect changes the linear susceptibility and thus the refractive index of the material. This effect, known as the linear electrooptic (LEO) or Pockels effect, modulates light as a function of applied voltage. At the atomic level, the applied voltage is anisotropically distorting the electron density within the material. Thus, application of a voltage to the material causes the optical beam to "see" a different... 

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